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Water main break floods UCLA campus

A major water main break floods the University of California, Los Angeles campus and strands motorists. Vanessa Johnston reports.

Chris Woodyard, USA TODAY
7:57 a.m. EDT July 30, 2014

Water cascades down a stairway to a parking structure adjacent to Pauley Pavlion, home of UCLA basketball, after a 30-inch water main burst on nearby Sunset Boulevard onJuly 29 in Los Angeles.(Photo: Paul Phootrakul, AP)

LOS ANGELES — A 93-year-old water main broke above the campus of the University of California-Los Angeles, sending a torrent raging through parking structures and athletic facilities.

No injuries were immediately reported from the flooding at UCLA, and many students used the occasion to go wading down steps that became waterfalls. Some broke out floats and were pulled through the accumulated water.

Some of the water reportedly may have damaged Pauley Pavilion, one of UCLA's athletic facilities, but many of the campus' other most famous buildings, such as Royce Hall and Powell Library, are perched well above the flooding.

A worker begins the task of cleaning up at least an inch of water covering the playing floor at Pauley Pavilion aftera broken 30-inch water main under Sunset Boulevard flooded UCLA's campus. (Photo: Mike Meadows, AP)

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Los Angeles City Fire Department spokesman Jamie Moore told NBC4-TV that crews were trying to divert up to 2 feet of water in parking structures 4 and 7 into storm drains. Swift-water rescue teams were dispatched, but no rescues were reported. He says they were on the scene in case firefighters needed them as they explore the flooded garages.

The break occurred about 3:30 p.m., just at the start of rush hour. Sunset Boulevard is a key artery on the city's tony west side.

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti tweeted that the broken line, at least 30 inches in diameter, dated to 1921. He says pressure on the line was gradually being reduced with hopes that it could be shut off.